Two-Dimensional Imagination in Contemporary Japanese Women's Performance

Citation: Anan, Nobuko (2011) Two-Dimensional Imagination in Contemporary Japanese Women's Performance. TDR/The Drama Review, 55 (4). pp. 96-112. ISSN 1054-2043

Published by: MIT Press

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1162/DRAM_a_00125

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This document may differ from the final, published version of the research and has been made available online in accordance with publisher policies. To read and/or cite from the published version of the research, please visit the publisher’s website (a subscription may be required.) Two-Dimensional Imagination in Contemporary Japanese Women’s Performance Nobuko Anan

Introduction Contemporary visual artist Murakami Takashi defines Japanese visual art (from thetraditional to the contemporary), as well as society in general, as “super flat.” He writes in his “Super Flat Manifesto”: Society, customs, art, culture: all are extremely two-dimensional. It is particularly appar- ent in the arts that this sensibility has been flowing steadily beneath the surface of Japanese history. Today, the sensibility is most present in Japanese games and anime, which have become powerful parts of world culture. One way to imagine super flatness is to think of the moment when, in creating a desktop graphic for your computer, you merge a number of distinct layers into one. [...T]he feeling I get is a sense of reality that is very nearly a physical sensation. The reason that I have lined up both the high and the low of Japanese art in this book is to convey this feeling. (2000:5)

TDR: The Drama Review 55:4 (T212) Winter 2011. ©2011 96 New York University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Two-Dimensional Imagination 97 - - theatre Republic Republic super flat” (5), (5), super flat” — and Yokosuka Jacob , a Japanese TV TV Japanese a , shūgō Zen’in dayo! Hachiji (DEEP Christ/insanity), 4–28 March March 4–28 Christ/insanity), (DEEP kirisuto-kyō DEEP

1 Shingeki continues into the present. Likewise, angura practitioners still constitute an important part of Japanese importantLikewise, an constitute still practitioners angura part present. the Japanese into of continues Shingeki political of season the of end the since cachet same the performancestheir although have always not do theatre, 1970s. early the in activism Uchino argues that in contrast to angura practitioners, whose struggle was possible in whose struggle was possible practitioners, Uchino argues that in contrast to angura While critiquing Murakami, performance scholar Uchino Tadashi sees some relevance in his Tadashi performance scholar Uchino While critiquing Murakami, bodies with the preceding generations of Uchino compares and contrasts these junk 1. Nobuko Anan is a Lecturer in Performing Arts at Northumbria University. She is a former Newton is a former Newton She University. at Northumbria Arts in Performing is a Lecturer Anan Nobuko Warwick. of University Studies at the Performance and in Theatre Fellow Post-doctoral International Women’s Japanese ContemporaryGirls: with on her first monograph, “Playing is working She UCLAStudies from Performance and in Theatre her PhD received She Arts.” Visual and Performance in 2009. [email protected] the political upheaval of the postwar decades, contemporary young Japanese theatre prac- contemporary young Japanese theatre the political upheaval of the postwar decades, already deprived of the language through which titioners under neoliberal sovereignty are he means I assume what their subjectivity (130). they can express antagonism and negotiate 2004, by Emoto Junko, directed by Emoto Junko at Ekimae Gekijō. As in Gekijō. Ekimae at Junko Emoto by directed Junko, Emoto by 2004, Figure 1. (facing page) Emoto Junko (center) in (center) Junko Emoto page) (facing 1. Figure

, modern theatre that originated in the late 19th century under the , In shingeki practitioners. bodies of Japanese actors were marginalized not only in the Western realist theatre, influence of represent characters as linguistic constructs but the sense that actors’ bodies sought to merely bod- characters’ Western were supposed to represent also in the sense that the Japanese bodies shingeki actors wore fake noses and blond wigs to pioneering Even in realist plays, ies (126). thus aspired to the shingeki As Uchino points out, play the roles of Euro-American characters. but ended up exhibiting the Japanese bodies” Westerners’ “transparent representation of the (meaning angura Challenging such marginalization, bodies while marginalizing them (126). late 1960s negotiated and reclaimed Japanese bod- “underground”) theatre practitioners in the what they perceived in a larger frame, theatre or, ies through a struggle with language-oriented metaphor” “aesthetic bodies were thus understood as an Angura actors’ modernity. Western as for Japaneseness by the audience (126). suggesting his desire for Japan to have hegemonic power in the global art field. It is notewor field. in the global art to have hegemonic power his desire for Japan suggesting as it is based on the Japan excludes women, of super-flat conceptualization thy that Murakami’s art and Japan/Japanese West/Western that he perceives between the sexualized power dynamics on his view in essays from his book, but he elaborates this in detail here, I will not discuss art. Alive” (2005). In Are You Greetings, “Earth Little Boy, in and “Super My Window” Trilogy: Flat Japan into “castrated” Murakami attempts to turn a aesthetics, super-flat “cool,” with the sum, West. field of art hitherto dominated by the hegemonic power in the the world’s of super flatness to describe a cer society and arts and uses the concept theorization of Japanese or Japan, theatre and dance performance in contemporary young people’s tain type of urban, which of performers, bodies” “junk signifies the “‘J’“J” what he calls (2009:131). performance” and are thus super flat (128). burdened with nothing” present, “physically are simply In another chapter from the same book (“A Theory of Super Flat Japanese Art”), he further he Art”), Super Flat Japanese Theory of book (“A chapter from the same In another neither something that has and argues that it is aesthetics on his theory of super-flat elaborates This conceptualization surface (9–25). the two-dimensional nor hidden truth beneath any depth “‘Super writes, as he sentiment, his nationalist actually manifests original con- flatness’ is an is today might be like Japan world of the future “The and Japanese” cept of the , this piece produces decontextualized space onstage by parodying various cultures. Targets Targets cultures. various parodying decontextualized by onstage space produces piece this , Kegawa-zoku of and Monroe, Marilyn Jackson, Michael Christianity, include Kegawa-zoku) by (Photo ’80s. to 1960s the from aired that show comedy 98 Nobuko Anan

performer hasa “junk body ther therepresentationoftextnormetaphoranything(130, 139). The contemporary rary theatrepractitionerssufferfrom “depersonalization disorder,” withtheirbodiesbeingnei- itics inherwork, atleastfromtheperspectiveofafeministaudiencememberlikemyself. “J” theatrebyUchino, isprobablynotafeminist. However, itispossibletoseefeministpol- laration tobeconsideredafeminist. Inthissense, Emoto, whosetroupeisactuallyincludedin Japan” (2009:14). This maybethecase, ifanartist, oranyoneelse, needstomake a publicdec- ing Yanagi herself, Uchinosuggests, “[P]erhaps, therewas(andstillis)nofeministtheatrein heterosexist Japan. notion of “essentially Japanesefemininity,” whichstillhauntsnationalist, masculinist, and two-dimensional aestheticsinordertodetachtheirbodiesfromthehistoricallycharged ness orjunknesscanbethoughtofinrelationtofeministaesthetics. These artistsemploy of thetroupeKegawa-zoku(meaning “fur tribe”)arethreestrongexamplesofhowsuperflat- female visualartist Yanagi Miwa, andfemaletheatredirector/playwright/actorEmotoJunko (163). their works resentation” intheirwork, althoughtheyoftenseemtobeunconsciousofthepoliticalnature (162–64). Through theseperformances, “J” performersbringuptheissueofa “politics ofrep- lary,” withoutanyinteresteitherin “a linearnarrative” or “inner emotionsandpersonalities” andthoseincontemporarydancepursuean “idiosyncratic movementvocabu- mon sense,’” Uchino explainsthatjunkbodiesintheatre “defy andignorehistory, sharedvaluesand ‘com- tance, butwithoutthedirectconfrontationwithauthorityexhibitedbyangurageneration. (Uchino 2009:133). guage andthebodybyusingsuper-flat surfacesonwhichdiversesimulacraareprojected” statements aswelltheirtheoriesoftheatre. ical positionsthroughlanguage. The anguragenerationindeedoftenpublishedtheirpolitical modernity thattheyassociatedwith Western realisttheatre), andtheabilitytoarticulatepolit- by “ performers playbothfemaleandmalerolesinexcessivelymelodramatic, heterosexualromances ing householdsalongtherailwaytospanear Takarazuka Station. Inthecompany, women Kobayashi Ichizo\(1873–1957)as “wholesome familyentertainment” forthepurposeofattract- The Takarazuka Revuewasfoundedin1913by Hankyu\RailwayandDepartmentStoretycoon Takarazuka Revue ual community. ing Yanagi andEmoto, findsubversivepleasureinparticipatingahomosocialandhomosex- Likewise, although Takarazuka isofficiallyaconservativeinstitution, audiencemembers, includ- 3. 2. boring Asia, the “muse-cal” toured around Japan until 1980 (Dotekabo-ichiza 2005:1; Tanaka 2005:329, 331). infanticide, Japan’sthemes such as abortion, economic growth, and Japanese men’s prostitution tours to neigh- of the company were all women except one man, and none of them were professional theatre practitioners. With Dotekabo-ichiza, formed by members of Lib Shinjuku Center, a collective that opened in 1972. The members of Women is a musical comedy (“muse-cal” as they call it) first produced in Tokyo in 1974 by the company ten and directed by Tanaka Mitsu, a standard bearer of the women’s liberation movement in Japan. professional theatre troupe, there was a feminist production titled Also, perhaps Uchino was only considering a select group of theatre Although it was not produced artists. by a 1960s: The of the Return Gods In contrasttothefieldofvisualartwherethereareconsciouslyfeministartists, includ- The all-femalerevue/musicalcompany Takarazuka kagekidan(The Takarazuka Revue), Nevertheless, superflatnessorjunknesscanfunction(un)consciouslyasastrategyofresis- Theatre of Terayama Shūji and Postwar Japan For a detailed discussion of angura practitioners, see Carol Fisher Sorgenfrei’s language” istwofold:thecleartargetofresistancethatangurapractitionershad(i.e., the (1997). — which betraysandexhibitsthepostmodernrupturebetweenlan- (2005) 2 and Unlikethesepredecessors, youngcontempo- David G. Goodman’s Japanese Drama and Culture in the Onna no kaihō (Emancipation of Women) - writ Unspeakable Acts: The Avant-garde Emancipation 3

Two-Dimensional Imagination 99

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company. company. ), first produced in ),

4 functions as allegory for the 6 , “good wives, wise mothers” “good wives, , \sai kenbo (1993) by Kim Longinotto and Jano Williams. This prac- This Williams. Jano and Longinotto Kim by (1993) Girls Dream In 1919, the surprising success of the revue led Kobayashi to establish it as an independent it as an independent to establish of the revue led Kobayashi the surprising success In 1919, As of 1990, over 90 percent of the audience consisted of women (Brau 1990:80) and the percentage remained the the remained percentage the and 1990:80) (Brau women of consisted audience the of percent 90 over 1990, of As 2008:7). (Stickland 2008 of as same build- school the of cleaning daily thorough, extremely an academy is the at activities student famous the of One documentarythe in film recorded as ing, noteworthyis it while that However, 1999:204–07). (Kawasaki today persists and started1970 tice around cur- current the in skills homemaking in classes no are there academy, the of sewingdays early the in taught was been has ceremony tea for class a only etiquette, female Japanese traditional For 2008:81). (Stickland riculum (81). offered the codirecting been has He Shinji. Ueda scriptwriter/director, Takarazuka male a by scripted and adapted was It Japan the on aired was which production, 1994 the to referring article, this In am I directors. different with piece 1994. December 22 on Corporation Broadcasting The Revue operates on a strict gender hierarchy, even though it is an all-female even though on a strict gender hierarchy, The Revue operates conformity to conventional gender hierarchy undermines its (unconventional) Takarazuka (Gone With production of Kaze to tomo ni sarinu the Wind Takarazuka’s 4. 5. 6. (Takarazuka gakko\ (Takarazuka ongaku Takarazuka the newly founded associated with theatre apparatus In addi- are all graduates of the academy. performers Takarazuka Ever since, Academy). Music Japanese female etiquette. they are also required to learn traditional tion to theatrical training, For this reason, even though Takarazuka stages Las Vegas- or Broadway-style shows, the acad- or Broadway-style shows, Vegas- stages Las Takarazuka though even For this reason, best school for training future ryoemy is known as the “Purely, famous motto is Takarazuka’s of ideal Japanese womanhood. the modern construction leave the company when they get married. and the performers must Beautifully,” Righteously, career such as pursuing an acting reasons, many of them leave for a variety of other However, outside of Takarazuka. either “secondary genders,” calls are assigned what Jennifer Robertson students In the academy, The assignment is based on by the management ([1998] 2001:11). male-role or female-role, physique, height, criteria: namely, “both physical (but not genitalia) and sociopsychological and the students personal preference,” to a certain extent, and personality, voice, facial shape, Selected male- their tenure at the company (11–12). carry their secondary genders throughout merely as while the female-role top stars are seen role players are acclaimed as the top stars, first by gender hierarchy between the male administra- is thus structured Takarazuka foils. hierarchy among by a stereotypical gender-role and secondly, tors and the female performers, the performers. as allegory, Celeste Olalquiaga argues that its works. through the subversive allegoric nature of one-to-one relationship of signi- does not promise the direct, opposed to the symbolic system, comment on reality is the perfect emblem for a “[a]llegory’s metaphorical as fier and signified, even She explains that allegory, (1992:21). its source” perception always one step removed from allegor and that in its obsessive efforts, fails to achieve it, though it longs for the condensation, floating signs that are not anchored in the specific ical production ends up being saturated with allegory ends up annihilating the pro- in its repeated failure, Moreover, meanings of symbols. anxiety caused Olalquiaga suggests that postmodern cultural gression of time or historicity (22). concrete expe- who long for intense and turns people, by the disruption of the symbolic system “replenishes the ironically efforts to fill the signifying gap, in its which, to allegory, riences, of specific mean- The perceived loss (22). signifiers” ensuing vacuum with the multiplication of ings drives more allegorical production. 1977 and still staged as one of the troupe’s most popular pieces, mostly set in nostalgic (pseudo-)Western countries. Since its inception, the company has been the company has been Since its inception, countries. in nostalgic (pseudo-)Western mostly set - male and female audi it enjoyed both Although to this day. popular and still is enormously the 1950s it has attracted since period, in the prewar from different generations ence members 2001:142). (Robertson [1998] in their 30s or older mostly women 100 Nobuko Anan end, “I’ll thinkofitalltomorrow” (Mitchell[1936]1964:1037). Rhett. Unliketheoriginalnovelandfilm, Takarazuka’s Scarlettdoesnotgettodeclareatthe by audiencemembers. features, etc. (UmeharaandOtohara[1994]1997:106–13), butthisistoosubtletobenoticed also performwhattheythinkofaswhiteface that Takarazuka performersusedifferentmakeuptechniquesforracesandthusthey no attempttodoanythingmorethanrepresenttheblackservantsfromoriginal. Itistrue in andofitselfraisesissuesracismnotaddressedthefilm, the Takarazuka performersmake production. While thefactthatperformerswhoplayrolesofblackservantsareinblackface between theSouthernslaveownersandNorthernabolitionistsarenotproblematizedinthis her loved one. ing.” stand “a goodtraditionoftheSouth,” whichkeeps “men forworkandwomenhousekeep - traditional gendervalues:themaleSouthernersdespiseNorthernerswhocannotunder ing thevanishingOldSouthinfaceofmodernity, blamingthelossondestructionof the genderedandsexualizedsymbolicunity. This melodramadepictstheSouthernersmourn- male managementofthecompany, whichdesirestoresistwhatitperceivesasthedisruptionof

in the1980sforadegreeofintensitythatwouldfillvacuum generatedbythecollapse fromthe1950sand’60s,B movies withtheirexcessivemelodrama, satisfiedthedesireof many space-age filmsintheUSduring1980s, specifically sciencefictionfilms. Forinstance, As anexampleofthenatureallegory, Olalquiaga discussesthepopularityof1950sand’60s nature ofthesymbolicsystem. Olalquiagawrites: Wind doesnotsucceedonthislevel. As allegory, theproductioninsteadexposesconstructed firm conventionalgenderrolesbytakingthefightoutofScarlett,the Takarazuka’sGoneWith him back. However, Iwouldarguethatdespitethemanagement’seffortstorestoreandreaf- Scarlett, the Takarazuka versionplaysthevictim, wailingwithoutdemonstratingherwilltoget version, sheispunishedforher “unwomanly” behaviorandlosesRhett. Unliketheoriginal Wind, itdoestakeissuewithScarlett’stransgressionofgender. As mentioned, inthe Takarazuka reflects thismentality. selves withthewhite, oratleastplacethemselvesinahigherstatusthanblacks(29). Takarazuka are influencedbyracist Western perceptions(1996:19), andtheJapanesetendtoidentifythem- than otherservants. As JohnG. Russelpointsout, representationsofblacksinJapaneseculture trays thesecharactersas “silly,” althoughScarlett’smaid, Mammy, ispresented morerespectably as OthersatwhomtheJapaneseaudiencememberscanlaugh. This productionblatantlypor 9. 8. 7. It isnoteworthythat, whilemuchemphasisisplacedongender, racialissuesandthetension bolic truth. (1992:22) its consequenttruth, itsucceedsinpointingouttheobviously constructedqualityofsym- between referentandrepresentation. So, whileallegory failstoreestablishanoriginand ness ofthesymbolicisexposed. Allegorical distanceunderlinestheconstitutivedifference [I]t ispreciselyinthisfailure[ofallegory]toachievecondensationthatthearbitrari- While Takarazukathe isnotcriticaloftherepresentationsblacksinoriginalGoneWith characters in whiteface (243), this is actually not the case. white characters in what they think of as whiteface. While he maintains that Japanese theatres do not stage white them in blackface (2006:243), but he does performing not recognize are that the performers playing the roles of For example, Kevin J. Wetmore Jr. also writes that Takarazuka keeps African American characters as the Other by tomorrow is another day.” In the film, the final line is: “Tara! Home. I’ll go home. And I’ll think of some way to get [Rhett] back. After all, indicated, areAll translations into English, my own. unless otherwise 7 Scarlett, whocannotconformtotraditionalwomanhood, isofcoursepunished:sheloses 9 Comparedtosuchwhitefacecharacters, blackfacecharactersstandout — with Western doubleeyelidsandchiseledfacial 8 Shesimplylamentsthelossof - - Two-Dimensional Imagination 101 - gets saturated with float- — , parodies of various cultures from different different from cultures various of parodies , Kegawa-zoku of Republic . A good example of signifier slippage is seen in the pres- Gone With . the Wind and Yokosuka Jacob Japanese (masculinist) ideology that comes out of American male characters (played American male characters (played out of Japanese (masculinist) ideology that comes — From this perspective, it is possible to subversively reinterpret the masculinist discourse it is possible to subversively From this perspective, (Money Is You), 23–31 July 2005, by Emoto Junko, directed by Emoto Junko at Honda Honda at Junko Emoto by directed Junko, Emoto by 2005, July 23–31 You), Is (Money kimi wa Zeni tantly, women enacting heterosexual romances can never achieve the unification of their bodies women enacting heterosexual tantly, Academy admin- Music Takarazuka by the and the gendered and sexualized ideal promoted Takarazuka space of the The decontextualized management. istration and the company’s stage War time of the Civil by Japanese women) supposedly from the motto conventional Takarazuka’s Under many fans enjoy. This is probably what ing signifiers. in which their sexual space, they can secretly harbor this Beautifully,” Righteously, “Purely, of the fans find pleasure in In other words, desire is not forced to rest on patriarchal heterosexism. performers’ bodies being junk without any historicity, Takarazuka witnessing the possibility of failure to achieve the symbolic condensation. as the result of male management’s of Takarazuka’s Scarlett II is an alter ego for version. Takarazuka the which is unique to ence of two Scarletts, due to her masculine Although Scarlett is a female character, Scarlett that only she can see. a male- 1997:156), male director/playwright Ueda Shinji (Ueda Takarazuka according to nature, therefore she performs a female gender in this play. and role player is often cast in this role, one who Scarlett II is performed by an actor who is a specialist in the opposite gender of the the function of two Narratively, roles during the run. and the actors alternate performs Scarlett, and it is the revelation that The unwomanly Scarlett is seen as schizophrenic, Scarletts is clear. Scarlett says, As Scarlett II disappears, she loves Rhett that brings the two Scarletts into one. Gekijō. Like Like Gekijō. these melodramas are too excessive to be taken as However, 33–34). of the symbolic (1992:23, with enough distance to reflect upon their anx- and thus allow viewers to remain detached, real, the intense Gone With , the Wind Takarazuka’s space in in the melodramatic Likewise, iety (34). most impor In addition, never coming to rest on single meanings. emotions become hyperbole, Figure 2. Emoto Junko (center, with stick) with Machida Marie and Sawada Ikuko on the stairs to her left, left, her to stairs the on Ikuko Sawada and Marie Machida with stick) with (center, Junko Emoto 2. Figure in Kegawa-zoku) by decontextualizeda (Photo onstage. space produce periods time 102 Nobuko Anan argue thatdespitetheprofitmotive, thealternationalsosatisfiesfans’transgenderdesires. of thetwoScarlettsisfinancial cates theclearboundarybetweenthesetwogenders. While onereasonforthedailyalternation ers. Seeingbothmale-roleplayersandfemale-roleperformthetwoScarlettscompli- purview ofmale-roleplayers, whileinnocenceisatypicalattributeexpectedoffemale-roleplay- inine) canalsoperformasasensuouswoman. In Takarazuka, sensuousnessisregardedasthe contains anothersubversivepossibility:itshowsthatafemale-roleplayer(typicallyhyperfem- gender roles. Moreover, havingafemale-roleplayerperformthesameroleasmale-role Scarlett/Scarlett IIandmale-roleplayerscangobackforthfreelybetweenfemalemale ment ofamale-roleplayertoeitherthetwoScarletts, becauseitdemonstratesthatboth representation ofgenderasthestablereferentisunwittinglyunderminedbyveryassign- “I havefinallybecomewhoIam,” suggestingshehasachievedorganicfemininity. Yet, such 10. Miwa oftencritiques, or perhapstriestocritique, thecompany. She condemnsboththecom- tively reproduceitintheir Takarazuka-inspired work. multiple signifiers. Both Yanagi andEmotoseemtorecognizethisflatteningeffect respec- fier doesnotalwaysrestonasinglesignified, andasa result, theperformers’bodiesfloatamong Japanese womanhood. Inthedecontextualizedspacecreated onthe Takarazuka stage, thesigni- management. The conceptisactuallyaprewar, nationalist, andmasculinistconstructionof Officially, Takarazuka performers are stillseenasfuturegoodwivesandwisemothersbyits Yanagi Miwa Female Artists’ Reactionsto Takarazuka shows. on them. The shopsarefilledwiththeeroticdesiresoffanswhopackedthemafter when oneentersthe Takarazuka shops, whichsellnoveltieswithmale-rolestars’imagesprinted indeed difficulttoacceptthecompany’sheterosexistmotto “Purely, Righteously, Beautifully” while notacknowledgingthelesbianandtransgenderdesiressurroundingcompany. Itis These bodieswithoutanydepthfloatseductivelyonthe Takarazuka’s stage. other women’sbodiesasjunk, freedfromtheburdenofnationalistandmasculinisthistory. or contemporaryJapaninthe American OldSouthiswherefemaleaudiencememberscansee the Wind,Gone With theallegoricalspaceof American OldSouthincontemporaryJapan their photographsprintedonnoveltiessoldat Takarazuka theatres. In Takarazuka’s versionof opening ofashowwhileservingasthestartroupe, andonlytopmale-roleplayerscanhave placed inaprivilegedposition. Forexample, onlyatopmale-roleplayercanannouncethe continues toreproduceastrictpatriarchalgenderhierarchy, withmale-roleplayersalways the conventionalideathatfemalegenderresidesinbodiesandviceversa, but Takarazuka mances andproducts. in ordertokeepthemundersurveillanceandthefans consuming Takarazuka perfor If so, themanagementmaysubtlyleavespacefordesiresoffemalefansandperformers It istruethat Takarazuka’s assignmentofmalegendertofemalestudentsitself Although herworksdoexhibit herattractionto Takarazuka, interestingly, visualartist Yanagi Nevertheless, the Takarazuka managementcommodifiestheeroticappealofandrogyny minimizing thepossibilityofsocialdisruption. ([1998]2001:207) incorporate alternativeormarginaltrendsintothecommonsensicalmainstream, thereby “libidinal economy” ofthecapitalistmarketandcorporateworld, which[...]isquickto [T]he marketingof[...]the[Takarazuka performers]alertsustotheoperationsof and DVDs. The items on sale include stationery, bags, handkerchiefs,T-shirts, accessories, sweets, photographs, books, CDs, 10 Robertsonsuggests, — it encouragesfanstoreturnseebothScarletts deconstructs — I would - Two-Dimensional Imagination 103 - a 13 laugh wildly, hum laugh wildly, — social and homosexual community. community. social and homosexual (Takarazuka: The Land of Dreams) (Takarazuka: it was exhibited in the Japan Pavilion at the it was exhibited in the Japan Pavilion at 12 As the title suggests, scenes from the films Gloria scenes from the As the title suggests, 14 who are of an indeterminate race, ethnicity, and age, and age, ethnicity, who are of an indeterminate race, seems to comment on Takarazuka. Comprising photo- Takarazuka. seems to comment on — 11 (2009) Women Windswept The original title is in English. in is title original The English. in is title original The English. in is title original The five event who The artists in the participated www.operacity.jp/ag/exh53/index.html. is exhibit the of website The Mika, Ninagawa Miwa, Yanagi artists are Female importantall contemporarythe in are artvisual Japan. in scene Yasumasa. Morimura and Tadanori Yokoo artistsmale and are Minako, Nishiyama and Yanagi’s Yanagi’s Yanagi’s most direct reaction to Takarazuka is demonstrated in her work Gloria & Léon, is Takarazuka direct reaction to most Yanagi’s , Troupe graphs and a short film titled The Old Girls’ Yumemiru Takarazuka ten Takarazuka short film screened in the exhibit Yumemiru Art Gallery in 2004. Opera City Tokyo in 11. 12. 13. 14. sive sexual pleasure. The problem is that she associates outside reality with heterosexual mat- The problem is that she associates outside sive sexual pleasure. performers and fans, Takarazuka just not that Japanese women in general, She argues uration. and according to her, women, interest not in men but narcissistically in show sexual “still” In 85; 2004b:92). (2003:83, these women eventually need to overcome this is something that unwillingness which is their immaturity as a problem, women’s perceives Japanese Yanagi short, fans who (she Takarazuka directed at While her critique is to conform to heteronormativity. as a shelter from the oppression they Takarazuka patriarchy by keeping thinks) do not confront con- However, attitudes. she also reveals her heteronormative lives, experience in their everyday world where only women reside. in her own works she creates a utopic trary to what she says, inability to reject the allure of a homo Her works reveal her aesthetics reject historicity and These “girls’ aesthetics.” I would call She often relies on what junkness. and thus resonate with super-flat material bodies as reproductive organs, pany’s valorization of its performers’ (supposed) virginity and the fan’s support for the policy the policy for support fan’s virginity and the performers’ (supposed) valorization of its pany’s and their both the performers as the place that isolates Takarazuka sees She 2003:83). (Yanagi become ultimately need to “girls” that these and she maintains the outside reality, fans from a con- which she regards as space,” “carnivalesque she calls a getting out of what mature by regulation of critiques both the management’s She (2005:67). than liberated space fined rather subver this space for their imaginative, manipulation of the women’s sexuality and the women’s Windswept In Windswept Art in Osaka in 2009. Museum of Biennale as well as at the National Venice 53rd who are not constrained by conven- presents an alternative troupe of women Yanagi , Women exposing film depicts members of the troupe semi-naked, the For example, tional womanhood. their small black They dance around dancing wildly to simple rhythms. their breasts and legs, These women tent without audience. and whose appearances do not satisfy the standard idea of feminine beauty and whose appearances do not satisfy the they carry their tent to another loca- After the dance, and muss up their long hair. a melody, association of women with the untamed and the animal is ste- The Their travel continues. tion. in which women live space, homosocial but the film creates a utopic, reotypical and too familiar, family without being tied to a single locale and the conventional together like family members, and also without being objectified by the masculinist gaze. structure, ( and the actors are meant to John Cassavetes 1980) and Léon (Luc Besson 1994) are enacted, girls the actors are performing More precisely, 2004c). appear to be high school girls (Yanagi of these films at a school hall for a school in school uniforms who are rehearsing adaptations viewers of the which reminds hall is a small staircase, In the middle of a stage in the activity. The screen is Takarazuka productions. finale of grand staircases that are the hallmark of the divided into two; on the left side of the screen scenes from Gloria are enacted and on the right the girls on the right While Gloria is enacted, and they take turns. side are those from Léon, and like they are watching the performance on the left, thus looking side are shown facing left, The same group of girls rehearses the opposite is the case when Léon is enacted on the right. 104 Nobuko Anan grab by Kimura Sansei) 2004, by Yanagi Miwa at Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery. (Screen Figure 3. Gloria (left) in Orchard a girls’highschoolwithproud traditionswherestudentsalsostageaplay(Chekhov’sCherry viewers of Yoshida Akimi’s girls’manga, Sakura nosono(CherryOrchard)(1986). Itissetin ficult toperceive Yanagi’s criticalperspectiveon Takarazuka. Thesettingmayremindsome contained, orself-sufficient space. With suchautopic atmospherecreatedinthefilm, itisdif- a fascinationwithfeminine, “immature” space. The film portrays girlsinanintimate, self- for thefanstofantasizethattheytoobelongthis “school.” Kawasaki 2005:173–74, Stickland2008:160–69, Robertson [1998]2001:164–65). Thus, itiseasy ing them, andwritingletterstothemwithsuggestions about theproductions(Brau1990:91, core fansvoluntarilysupporttheirfavoritesevenoffstagebymaking mealsforthem, chauffeur actors (Brau1990:86). Audience membersform fan clubsdedicatedtoparticularstars, andhard- after performerscompletetheirtrainingattheacademy, theyarereferredtoasstudents, not Takarazuka’s womenperformers. Indeed, Takarazuka symbolicallyoperatesasaschool. Even be intheir20s)performinghighschoolgirls, Yanagi seemstocritiquethe “immaturity” of contrast aswasapparentlyintended. their racialdifference. Therefore, thejuxtapositionoftwostoriesdoesnotcreateasstronga white (asthedefaultofprotagonistsin Western films), becausetherearenolinessuggesting features oftheoriginalfilm. Thosewhohavenotseenthefilmmightthinkthattheyareboth performed byJapanesewomenactingashighschoolgirlsinuniforms, donotexposetheracial some oftheverycharacteristics Takarazuka that Yanagi istryingtocritique. GloriaandPhil, implicit intheworks Takarazuka adapts. What isironicaboutGloria&Léonthatitreproduces the companyeithercastsaracistgazeonOtherorignoresracialandethnictensions tion, Takarazuka stagesvariousracesandethnicities. Again, theproblemismoreinfactthat roles (couplingofastrong, olderwomanandahelplessboy). As pointedoutintheprevioussec- pair’s racialdifference(orthenonwhiteraceofboy)butbecausetwistedgender tique ispartiallycorrecthere. IfGloriacannotbestagedin Takarazuka, itisnotbecauseofthe a protagonistpairofmiddle-agedwhitewomanandPuertoRicanboy(2005:74). Hercri- sible tostageLéon, withawhite “couple,” in Takarazuka, itisimpossibletostageGloriawith but withagenderreversalandthedifferenceinrace. Yanagi maintainsthatwhileitmaybepos- Despite what Yanagi saysabout Takarazuka, IwouldarguethatGloria&Léon demonstrates In additiontothegenderandracialissues, bypresenting adultwomen(whoappearto ) inaschoolfestival.) This mangalyrically depicts friendshipandsame-sexeroticism Gloria & Léon, 24 July to 26 September sters (organgster-like people) (Phil andMathilda)fromgang- and Léon)protectingchildren same patternofadults(Gloria position oftwostorieswiththe (2005:74). The filmisthejuxta- and racialpoliticsof Takarazuka to beacritiqueofthegender performances. the filmorsimplywatching other activitiessuchasshooting but theyaremostlyinchargeof supporting roleswhennecessary, and Mathilda. Othergirlsplay the rolesofchildrenPhil and Léontheotherdoes them playsrolesofbothGloria two mainperformers. Oneof both pieces, butthereareonly Yanagi intendsGloria&Léon - Two-Dimensional Imagination 105 -

- 15 people provided female students with a — Thus, girls fetishized their fictional, ever girls fetishized their fictional, Thus, 16 seems to cherish the brief period of adolescence the brief period seems to cherish Gloria & Léon whether intentionally or not — The peak of such erotic imagination in girls’ magazines was in the 1930s (Imada 2007:189). Interestingly, around around Interestingly, 2007:189). (Imada 1930s the in was magazines girls’ in imagination erotic such of peak The Revue) Shōchiku (The kagekidan Shōchiku and Takarazuka articlesand photographs time, this of stars about in was which company, musical/revue all-female another is Revue Shōchiku The (117). magazines these filled 1990. to 1928 from operation fan. her and Revue performera Shōchiku the of by conducted one the is detail in discusses she case the But While confined to disciplinary institutions, however, girls appropriated the confinement to girls appropriated however, While confined to disciplinary institutions, Indeed, girls’ school, same-sex eroticism, and performance all come together in what might together in what performance all come and eroticism, same-sex girls’ school, Indeed, While girls’ aesthetics originated in the modern period, it is applicable to contemporary art- While girls’ aesthetics originated in the modern period, space where they could freely perform fictional selves, ignoring gender ideology (225–27). For (225–27). ignoring gender ideology selves, space where they could freely perform fictional and girls, girls used readers’ columns as a site for personal communication with other instance, as if Harunami (spring wave) or Kain (flower shadow), they often used such lovely pen names as in prose pieces they sent to mag- In addition, (225). to leave their actual names and lives behind and decora- they expressed their erotic desire to/for other girls in excessively romantic azines, They also described in readers’ columns the images of tive sentences (Kawamura 1994:61–64). anything (55). which would not produce bodies, their eternally young and beautiful bourgeois way to remain young and beautiful (64–66). They even fantasized death to be the ultimate 15. 16. were simply divided into children and adults, but capitalist modernity produced the new cat- but capitalist into children and adults, were simply divided and adulthood are trained to during which those between childhood egory of adolescence, As Honda This investment took place at school. 1996:280). force (Treat become the future labor who wise mothers” “good wives, female students were invested as future Masuko points out, as (re)produc- I would add, and, core of the developing middle class would serve as the moral is these female students who formed It citizens for Japan’s growing empire. ers of loyal Japanese “girls” to note here is that the term What is important (1983:214). “girls” the social category of or middle-class households wealthy adolescence who belonged to upper- referred to women in were young women lower-class Poor, daughters to secondary schools. enough to send their the category of girls postwar decades, after the economic growth in the now, although excluded, is more inclusive. a social cate- Honda further posits that if stage their resistance to wifehood and motherhood. intertwined with the school system and gender ideol- gory of girls is the product of capitalism first published which were product of girls’ magazines, a fictional category of girls is the ogy, they endorsed the educational policy for future good While in the 1900s and 1910s (222–29). they also wise mothers, wives, Sakura no sono, Like Sakura among girls. when girls can be isolated from “real” society, before their bodies are expected to function as are expected to function before their bodies society, “real” can be isolated from when girls organs. reproductive of Japanese womanhood. modern constructions which challenges “girls’ aesthetics,” be called a period, In the premodern in Japan. a modern construct of adolescence is The category Jennifer Robertson reports in her research on Takarazuka that there were actually attempted that there were actually Takarazuka on Jennifer Robertson reports in her research mother in the 1930s as a way to resist wifehood, double suicides among performers and fans and heteronormativity ([1998] 2001:192). hood, lastingly young and heterosexually innocent bodies, which they created through language in which they created through bodies, lastingly young and heterosexually innocent which eventually would be exploited as they rejected their physical bodies, As such, magazines. their wish to stop suggesting the nullification of time, They also fantasized reproductive organs. are a construct although they girls, In this sense, the progression of time and never grow old. it must be noted that it is not clear from Honda’s However, deny the modern. of the modern, magazines’ writing if the actual girls performed the girls constructed by the magazine or if the at least in girls’ In any case, editorial policy was a reflection of what girls were actually doing. (229). “inhabitants of an ahistorical world” girls performed magazines, In light of works because the modern construction of womanhood still haunts Japanese society. 106 Nobuko Anan company CasinoFolies(named aftertheFoliesBergèreandCasinodeParis), which was also obscenity, butaccordingtoMiriamSilverberg, the “Erotic, Grotesque, Nonsense” culture ular cultureinthe1920sand1930s. This phrase connoteddecadence, lasciviousness, and be “Erotic, Grotesque, Nonsense,” aphraseusedbymassmediatocharacterize Japanesepop- as guests. Kegawa-zoku’s membersarewomen, butthetroupeoftenbringsinoneortwomaleactors ing amalerole, makingexplicitthelesbianandtransgender desiressurrounding Takarazuka. time (exceptthatitmusttakeplaceafterGloria nothing thatshowstheir “real” identity. Moreover, thereisnothingthatshowsthelocaleor (Gloria, Léon, Mathilda, andPhil)arepresumablynotremotelysimilartotheirown. There is girls’ magazines. Inthefilm, highschoolgirlsareperformingfictionalselves, whosenames girls’ aesthetics, thespacein Yanagi’s Gloria&Léonresemblesthespaceproducedin 17. 2000, Kegawa-zoku’s “terroristic, eroticrevue” junking effectof Takarazuka performancein herparodicworksfilledwith “fakes.” Foundedin Kegawa-zoku, whichUchinoincludesunderhis “J” theatrerubric, Emotopushesforwardthe of Takarazuka performancesonitsaudience. As thedirector/playwright/actoroftroupe Emoto Junko, unlike Yanagi Miwa, isa Takarazuka fanactivelyrepresentingtheeroticeffects Emoto Junko of Takarazuka mightreflectherfrustrationonthismatter. lived bodies)andsilencingtheexperiencesthatbodiescarry. Yanagi’s ambivalentcritique can workbothways:problematizingthepoliticsofrepresentation(whichcertainlycontrols Gloria &Léon. This maybeinevitable, becausegirls’aestheticsflattenslivedbodies. Assuch, it tool. Inotedabovethat Yanagi’s critiqueof Takarazuka’s racismisnoteffectivelypresentedin cannot findawaytodoso. her critiqueofpatriarchyin Takarazuka withacontradictorypleasureinvokedinthetheatrebut Sakura nosono. After all, Ilikethingsthat” (2004a:84). Perhaps Yanagi istryingtoreconcile en’s space. Shementionsinaninterview, “[Gloria &Léon]endsupbeinglike[Yoshida’s manga] comments on Takarazuka, Yanagi isanadultwomanwhoprobablyfeelssympathyforthiswom- they knowwhattheoutsiderealityislikefromtheirownexperiences. Inspiteofhernegative women arechallengingtheheteronormative “real” worldbyemployinggirls’aesthetics, because forming highschoolgirlsperformingfictionalselvesstrengthenstheinterpretationthatthese allows noroomforhistoricityandphysicality. The factthatitisadultwomenwhoareper as theobjectoftheirdesire. This istheself-sufficient, “unproductive” spaceofwomen, which ing forthesegirls. Menarenotneededinthisspace, neitherasperformersofmalerolesnor them, suggestingnotjusttheirenvytowardthoseperformingthetitlerolesbutalsolong- girls gazingatthetwomainperformers, andoneofthesegirlsevenshedstearswhilewatching both femalesandmalestheyexpresstheirlovetowardothergirls. The filmoftenshows the girlsinGloria&Léonfreelytransgressgenderedandsexualizedboundary. They perform ence experiencesinwitnessingperformers’bodiesaspossiblejunk. As super-flat junkbodies, cal bodies. Inthissense, theirbodiesaresuper-flat junk. Sakura nosono, theirbodiesfunctionasimages. The girlsresisttheirhistoricallychargedphysi- playing inaconfined, ahistoricalspaceofsomeschoolhall. Likecharactersin Yoshida’s manga As opposedto Takarazuka’s motto “Purely, Righteously, Beautifully,” Kegawa-zoku’s could Lastly, Imustclarifythatgirls’aestheticsdoesnotalwaysfunctionasapoliticallysubversive Witnessing thesebodiesgeneratesapleasuresimilartothe Takarazuka audi- From the company’s website at www.kegawazoku.com/index.html. critiqued contemporarysociety (2006:xv, 29–30). Forexample, the mixed-genderrevue 17 & oftenparodies Takarazuka withEmotoplay - Léon cameout). Itisasiffictionalgirlsare modern - Two-Dimensional Imagination 107

18 association Kegawa-zoku’s per 20 Yakobu Yokosuka, dorodarake Yokosuka, Yakobu However, she does not make any she does not make However, 21 and Peer Friends, 19 Figure 4. Emoto Junko (center) in (center) Junko Emoto 4. Figure (Jacob Yokosuka, Sex in the Dirt), 6–11 February Dirt),the in February 6–11 Sex (Jacobsekkusu no Yokosuka, Gekijō. Ekimae at Junko Emoto by directed Junko, Emoto by 2003, Seiko) Sugimoto by (Photo - (The Democratic People’s .jp/en/ratimondai/index.html (n.d.). (n.d.). .jp/en/ratimondai/index.html However, the company was blind to the inequities between Japan and its colonies even when their play was set in in set was play their when even colonies its and Japan between inequities the to blind was company the However, (2006:244–48). Manchuria www.occur.or.jp/. website: group’s The www.peerfriends.jp/. website: group’s The one that claims Japan) of Government Issue, Abduction the for (Headquarters honbu taisaku mondai rachi Seifu Japanese have to was 1980s, and 1970s the in place which took abductions, Korea’s North for purposes the of their to According Japan. in work would who spies Korean North to culture and language their teach persons the of result a as Japan to return to permitted were them of five 2002 In abductees. more or 17 are there website, of rest the of fate the negotiating still are governments two the However, governments. the between negotiation www.rachi.go Korea”: North by Citizens Japanese of “Abductions website, Headquarters’ the abductees. See the Kegawa-zoku’s “glar Somewhat reminiscent of Casino Folies, Kegawa-zoku mocks Takarazuka’s commercial commercial Takarazuka’s mocks Kegawa-zoku Folies, reminiscent of Casino Somewhat is rather a product of an idea- Yokosuka Jacob political judgment about the events. formance is not overtly political. political. formance is not overtly the troupe calls atten- Rather, naming for tion to the politics of them as those who would label as I just did. lesbian, Yakobu Yakobu ing porno revue war” sekkusu no dorodarake Yokosuka Sex in the (Yokosuka, Jacob Dirt) and the accompanying Kegawa-“grand glaring revue” \wa zoku minshu shugi jinmin kyo koku Republic of Kegawa-zoku) were first produced in Ekimae gekijo\ in (Ekimae Theatre) in Tokyo The 2003 (Kegawa-zoku n.d.). production assumes knowledge production, Takarazuka of the in terms Takarazuka parodying Yokosuka and Jacob of structure, story Yokosuka although the Jacob Gone With , the Wind Takarazuka’s includes some send ups of “East Korea,” It roughly revolves around a lesbian performer in has no direct connection to it. She visits post- male-role star. Takarazuka who dreams of becoming a played by Emoto herself, but rather than becoming a with her Japanese lover, Tokyo, a city not far from Yokosuka, war up kidnapping local women and forcing them to work as divers to col- she ends star, Takarazuka Emoto was clearly which she and her lover then use as sex toys. lect pearls from the harbor, which abduction of several Japanese people, inspired by the news report of North Korea’s production. attracted public attention at the time of the 19. 20. 21. 18. strategy of associating itself with middle-class morality. Kegawa-zoku’s often musical-like shows often musical-like Kegawa-zoku’s middle-class morality. associating itself with strategy of nip- women with their and topless transvestism, silly violence, with dirty jokes, are crammed does not it explicitly lesbian, are often the troupe’s performances While by pasties. ples covered Association as members of the Japan such Unlike lesbian and gay activists, label itself as lesbian. OCCUR) Movement (a.k.a. for the Lesbian and Gay inspired by European and American cabaret, staged erotic dance by showgirls who exposed showgirls who exposed erotic dance by staged cabaret, American European and inspired by (2006:235–44). social inequities witty parodies critiquing and legs while staging their arms 108 Nobuko Anan Junko at Ekimae Gekijō. (Photo by Sugimoto Seiko) zoku), 6–11 February 2003, by Emoto Junko, directed by Emoto jinmin kyōwa koku Figure 5. Emoto Junko (center) in the playdemonstrates. The couple, whoexploitedthelocal womenfortheirownsexual plea- her works. While she critiquesheterosexism, shealsomakesfunoflesbianism, astheendingof gle, fixedinterpretation. Sheconstantlyunderminesherownperspective;nothing isstablein troupe’s performanceisthatEmoto doesnotallowtheaudiencetosettlecomfortablyonasin - sented asubversiveinterpretation ofKegawa-zoku’sparody Takarazuka, whatiscrucialinthe off ofthecamppotentialin Takarazuka forher lesbianaesthetics. mance ascampisexactlywhat Yanagi Miwalacksinhercritiqueofthecompany.) Emoto works company doesnotintendtolookthatway. (Thisperspective oflookingat Takarazuka’s perfor might beseenascamptothosewhoviewitwithapostmodern sensibility, eventhoughthe costumes, cheap-lookingstagesets, anachronistic settings, andadaptationsofexistingworks, films inthe1980sUS. Indeed, Takarazuka, withtheexcessivelymelodramaticactingstyle, flashy than asmaterialreality. ditic Scarlett. This suggeststhatwomenhaveaccess tothephallusasasymbolofpowerrather Scarlett IIarereversible, ScarlettII, evenwithout apenis, couldbeidenticaltothehermaphro- ther blursthedistinctionbetweenbiologicallyfemaleandmale bodies. Thus, ifScarlettand clearer thaninthe Takarazuka version. The Kegawa-zokuScarlett, withbreastsandpenis, fur Kegawa-zoku’s Scarlett, theparodymakessubversiveimplicationofperformancemuch Scarlett IIbasicallycopythe Takarazuka’s surface/beneathdance, butduetotheappearanceof sibly parodyingthe “manly” qualitiesofthe Takarazuka version. Kegawa-zoku’sScarlett and cial penisisstickingoutofhercrotcharea, andshetouchesitfrequentlyduringthescene, pos- Takarazuka’s Scarlett, butherethetopistransparent, showingherbreasts. Moreover, anartifi- place wheretheytrapandkidnapwomen. Kegawa-zoku’sScarlettwearsalongblackdresslike as ScarlettandIIoutoftheblueinahairsalonnamedScarlett, whichisactuallya the Kegawa-zokuversion, theEastKoreanwomanandherJapaneselovernonsensicallyappear The sameholdsforboththemale-roleplayerandafemale-roleplayer, whoplay these roles. In is thatScarlettandIIcanbothbe “beneath” and“surface,” andthustheyarereversible. intended meaning. Onepossiblesubversiveinterpretationoftheirsinginganddancingtogether psychological yetformalandunrealisticscenedoesnotconveytoeveryoneintheaudience express theinteriorityofScarlett, butintheallegoricalspaceof Takarazuka, thisinterestingly face].” Their movementsarealmostidentical. The danceandsongarepresumablyintendedto Emoto furtherpushesforward discrepancies betweensignifierandsignified. WhileIpre- Emoto’s appreciationof Takarazuka isthussimilar tothepopularityofspace-ageretro (The Democratic People’s Republic of Kegawa- Kegawa-zoku minshu shugi ura tion, singing, “You andIare by Takarazuka forthisproduc- together tothescorecomposed a sceneinwhichtheydance Takarazuka version, thereis Scarlett andII. Inthe a spoofofthedance pop songs. cal sequencesthatuseJapanese the Wind,Gone With of therevuepart Takarazuka’s Kegawa-zoku consistsofaparody itary base). The revueRepublicof Yokosuka (acitywithaUSmil- Pearl Harbor, Japan’sdefeat, and North (Korea), warin America, the Wind, theSouthvs. the game Jacob Yokosuka includes [beneath]andomote[sur — Takarazuka, Gone With plus musi- - - - Two-Dimensional Imagination 109 - I suggest that such representation of super-flat junkness I suggest that such representation of super-flat 22 In this regard, Kegawa-zoku’s production is similar to the Split Britches performances discussed by Sue-Ellen Sue-Ellen performances by discussed Britches Split the to similar is production Kegawa-zoku’s regard, this In reality with not identification the that argues She Aesthetic.” Butch-Femme a articleher in Case “Toward realist of hallmark the is which narrative, single a to tied being evade Weaver and Shaw lets fiction with but theatre (1989). Emoto’s negation of the belief in stable referents is most clearly suggested by the fact that most clearly suggested in stable referents is of the belief Emoto’s negation This evokes Elin Diamond’s stage is a series of mimicries. What emerges on Kegawa-zoku’s onto the repeatedly delivers fake offspring as the womb-theatre, Kegawa-zoku, Likewise, 22. Kegawa-zoku’s works often consist totally of citations and parodies of various popular cultural often consist totally of citations and parodies Kegawa-zoku’s works also include par and Republic of Kegawa-zoku Yokosuka Jacob Takarazuka. not just phenomena, all Emoto appropriates and so on. art, avantgarde films, manga, singers, odies of Japanese pop that herein lies her critical atti- and I would argue her works, of the material that comprises the She celebrates officially valorizes. Takarazuka which womanhood, tude toward essentialized (Emoto 2007:123). likes fakes” Kegawa-zoku “Basically, her work: essential phoniness of of Luce Irigaray’s deconstruc- particularly her discussion mimesis, theorization of feminist in the traditional and powerful regime of which intervenes “cave,” of the tion of Plato’s myth Irigaray reconfigures Plato’s associ- sexuality. I would add, gender and, the representation of and makes use of it to critique the masculinist ation of women with mimesis or deceptiveness for the illu- “a metaphor Plato envisages the cave wall as In the Republic, model. Truth/Ideal unseeable the from contemplating true Forms, sory nature of worldly objects that keep man it is only after painful expulsion that men can see According to him, (Diamond 1997:xi). Ideal” takes advantage of the birth metaphor he implies and reconfigures Irigaray Truth/Ideal. the “obscure[s] which “illusionistic apparatus,” functioning as the “womb-theatre,” the cave as the like conventional hence, The womb-theatre is, (in Diamond 1997:xi). the mode of production” reflec- but what is important is that in the womb-theatre, mimetic (realist) theatre in one sense, of the Since those who are in the cave cannot even imagine the existence tions have no origins. “mime- they experience they experience the reflections as the origins; hence, images’ origins, [...] fake offspring” “opens and delivers the womb-theatre What is more, (xi). sis without truth” mimesis with- suggesting that things in the world outside of the cave are also examples of (xii), Irigaray disrupts his masculinist by manipulating the very logic Plato uses, Thus, out origin. model. Truth/Ideal breaks open a crack in Kegawa-zoku Just as Irigaray manipulates Plato’s birth metaphor, stage. through which emerge subversive offspring that reject any theatre apparatus, Takarazuka the One womanhood. “true” there is no On a stage filled with fakes, single Japanese womanhood. the orig- since it is possible to detect have an origin, may argue that the troupe’s mimesis does has no direct born in 1978, it is important to note that Emoto, However, inals (as I did above). or phenomena from the Showa Era (1926–1989) experience of many of the cultural products is it? [...] It’s not “[What I portray onstage] is not real Showa, She says, that she mostly cites. what Thus, (2002:56). sniffing at the lingering smell” It’s more like I’m my original experience. and the audience members Kegawa-zoku parodies is not what Emoto believes to be the real, Emoto is thus dealing with images loaded with noth- are aware of the fakeness of the original. are constantly delivered the signifiers that On Kegawa-zoku’s stage, These images are junk. ing. destabilizing the sense that the signifiers can be slip back and forth among multiple referents, Just as the troupe’s parodies attached to a single referent or the production to a single meaning. so too do their hyperbolic representations of gen- of popular cultures have no real originals, der and sexuality lack clear referents. sure, is killed by their victims in an absurd, nonsensical way: a huge iron ball is dropped onto iron ball is dropped way: a huge nonsensical in an absurd, by their victims is killed sure, cri- put forward as a serious this murder is not Yet, in a shed. they are having sex them while exploitation of women. a masculinist would end up affirming which lesbian couple, tique of the flippantly Emoto the play. nonsense in example of the abundant it is just one On the contrary, for or against anything. avoids arguing 110 Nobuko Anan is perceivedasrealityalsobecomesfraughtwithslipperycopies. womb-theatre, invadetheoutsideworld. As theirstageisconstructedbyfloatingsignifiers, what the theatreandrealityoutside. The membersofKegawa-zoku, fakeoffspringdeliveredfromthe sure theactorsexittheatre, blurringthedistinctionbetweentheatricalperformanceinside audience thepleasureorsatisfactionofanending, catharticorotherwise. Without anyrealclo- to whethertheplayisactuallyover. Byfailingtoofferaclearending, Emotodoesnotgivethe mance ofthefinale, theactorsgooutoftheatre, leavingmostoftheaudienceconfusedas tain comesdownbutimmediatelyrisesagain, andthefinaleisrepeated. With thefinalperfor finale thatisperformedonce, Kegawa-zoku’sfinaleisperformedseveraltimes. Thecur zoku, theactorsperformafinalethatparodiestypical Takarazuka one. Butunlikeanormal strates thattheperformancecontinuesoutsideoftheatre. At theendofRepublicKegawa- cry ofwomendiversinthenonsensicalwarat “Pearl Harbor.” Moreover, thetroupedemon- trast, whileJacob Yokosuka alsobeginswiththesceneofRhett’sdeparture, itendswiththewar Rhett leavesScarlettandendswiththesamescene;playexplainswhyheher. Incon- Takarazuka’s constitutes atypeoffeministtheatre. functions asresistanceagainstconventional, single-mindednotionsoffemininityandthatthis Imada, Erika. 2007. “Sho\jo” noshakaishi(SocialHistoryof “Girls”). Tokyo: Keiso\shobo. Honda Masuko. 1983. Kodomonoryo\ya kara (FromtheFieldofChildren). Tokyo: Jinbunshoin. Goodman, DavidG. 1988. Japanese Drama andCulture inthe1960s: oftheGods.The Return Armonk,NY: Gone withthe Wind. [1939]2004. DVD, 158min., directedby Victor Fleming. Burbank, California: Warner Emoto, Junko. 2007. “Kegawa-zoku.” Interviewby Abe Hanae. Barfout!146:123. Emoto, Junko. 2002. (“Women’s “Engeki-kai nihanasaku Power”Blooming in ‘onna nochikara’” Theatre Dotekabo-ichiza nobideoomitaikai(Groupof/forPeople Who Want to Watch a Video ofDotekabo- Diamond, Elin. 1997. UnmakingMimesis:Essays onFeminism and Theater. New York: Routledge. Case, Sue-Ellen. 1989. “Toward aButch-Femme Aesthetic.” InMakingaSpectacle:Feminist Essays on Brau,Lorie.1990. “TheWomen’sof Takarazuka.” Theatre References super-flat junkJapan. dialogue ofwomenthatIhearfeministvoicesandseeagenealogytransgressivein camp, bothofwhichrejectbodiesassociatedwithasinglewaybeingwoman. Itisinthis respond tothissubversivepossibility. Yanagi andEmotorespectivelyevokegirls’aesthetics bodies beingslipperysignsinallegoricalspace, andthefans, including Yanagi andEmoto, conventional genderandsexualnorms. Takarazuka performersembodyapossibilityoftheir voked notbytheirmaterialbodiesbutasfloatingsignsthatviolateortransgressthe cally chargedJapanesegenderandsexualideologies. Thus theeroticismintheirworksispro- For thesewomen, two-dimensionalityisameanstoreleasetheirphysicalbodiesfromhistori- they allrelyonatwo-dimensionalaestheticsfromwhatIbelievetobefeministperspective. Of thewomenthatIdiscussedinthisessayonly Yanagi givesutterancetofeministissues, yet Towards aJapanese Feminist Aesthetics Lastly, Kegawa-zoku’sperformancedoesnotworktowardthesamekindofclosurethat M.E. Sharpe. Home Video. World). Conversationwith ChibaMasako, ed. Kawaguchi Yuki. Engeki bukku(Theatrebook)100:56. Muse-cal ichiza). 2005. Video/DVD Handbook: ContemporaryWomen’s Theatre, ed. Lynda Hart, 282–99. Ann Arbor: UniversityofMichiganPress. Emancipation of WomenEmancipation 1975). Gone With the Wind realizes.Gone With Takarazuka’s versionbeginswiththescenewhere Dotekabo-ichiza onna nokaiho\1975(Dotekabo-ichiza Myu\zukaru TDR 34, 4(T128):79–95. - - Two-Dimensional Imagination 111 BT (Takarazuka: Spectacle of Consumer Spectacle of Consumer supekutakuruSho\hi shakai no (Takarazuka: . 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